MagSpoof: A device that spoofs credit cards, disables chip-and-PIN protection

Hacker and security researcher Samy Kamkar, who’s noted for being the author of the first Web 2.0 worm, creating zombie cookies, and USBdriveby, has now come out with a new project.

Dubbed MagSpoof, this device can wirelessly spoof credit cards/magstripes, disable chip-and-PIN protection, and predict the credit card number and expiration date of Amex cards after they have reported stolen or lost, as demonstrated in this video:

Kamkar has offered enough information that curious hackers can create the device for themselves. This info includes what hardware he used and the fimware’s source code and schematic.

Still, the source code does not include the chip-and-PIN disabling feature nor the Amex card prediction algorithm. He shared the latter with American Express, and they are working on fixing the problem.